Four quarterbacks this season have thrown at least 440 yard in a single game. You can’t name any of them.Patrick Mahomes, perhaps? Nope.Josh Allen? No, sorry.Matthew Stafford? Justin Herbert. Nope.Here is the list: Joe Flacco (of course), Jacoby Brissett (of course), Russell Wilson and… Bryce Young. Brissett, Young and Flacco all joined the group in Week 11. Brissett set an NFL record for 47 completions against the 49ers. The Cardinals’ offense is better when Brissett plays than with Kyler Murray. I have written about this before. But what about Young? He threw 448 yard Panthers’ record in an overtime win of 30-27 over the Falcons. (We’ll talk about them later). Young threw a total of three touchdowns and did not get intercepted. He made some impressive throws against an NFL defense that had, up until this week, allowed the fewest yards passing in the league.
The thing is, if we’d run this column last weekend (I was on vacation for a couple of days; I apologize to all “Five Things fans”), Young would have been in the “Didn’t Like section.” He might have led the way. He had 25 passes for 124 yard and one of the worst interceptions you will ever see. The Saints lost 17-7.
Shedeur’s NFL debut had a historically bad start, and there were also deeper concerns.
Douglas Clawson
This inspired performance follows a week later. What can we learn from this? Perhaps we should not give up on our players. Perhaps the Panthers’ 6-5 record this season isn’t quite as bad we thought.Or perhaps — just maybe — a reminder of how it’s only a weekly league. One week ago I (and possibly others) thought it was time to let the Panthers go. Today, we’re espousing him. Young may not have the stability to compete at a high level, but his moments are impressive. In Week 12, he will play a big game that the entire nation can watch: “Monday night Football” against the 49ers who are also vying for a playoff position.
Week 12 is the perfect time for Young, if there was ever one. He’ll have to prove he can be consistent when it matters most — a sign that a team trusts him as a quarterback. The Bears are currently 7-3 and have won five games in which they were down in the final 2 minutes of regulation. It’s fitting that their quarterback, who has pulled off many great escapes, has also done it.
Williams was credited with 68 sacks, the third-most ever in NFL history. He was late, couldn’t adapt to NFL speed and looked lost. These people will be eating crow in this year. Williams’ sack rate is 4.7%, the seventh lowest in the NFL. That’s despite facing pressure on 35.3% of his dropbacks, a roughly average number and a similar number to last year.Caleb Williams20242025Sack rate10.8%4.7%Sacks per pressure28.2%12.3%Yards per scramble7.89.9Some of the ways he escaped Sunday (15 pressures, just two sacks) were outstanding.
You’ll even notice that I highlighted a throwaway in the final clip. These are important too. Williams was sacked so many times last year in scoring positions. His ability to remain upright and throw away the ball ensured Cairo Santos a 38-yarder rather than a fifty-ish yarder. Nico Collins is back! With C.J. Stroud’s concussion put the Texans offense in even greater trouble. Little did we know that the Nico Collins and Davis Mills connection could save the day. Collins’ 16 receptions for 228 yard and a touchdown in the last two weeks are tied for the most in his career. What we liked best about Collins was the way he used the ball. He caught it on intermediate in-breaking routes, and along the sidelines.
TruMedia
Mills took advantage of it, and the Texans have slowly but surely dug themselves to.500. Ja’Quan McMillian is the best. Only four NFL players have sacked Patrick Mahomes in the same match and picked him up. Ja’Quan McMillian did it all. Only four NFL players have sacked Patrick Mahomes and picked him off in the same game.
McMillian would not have been able to play these downs, if Patrick Surtain Jr., the reigning Defensive Players of the Year hadn’t been hurt. Denver’s depth on defense speaks volumes. The Eagles’ interior defendersAttention other NFL teams: stop trying to run up the middle against the Eagles in short-yardage scenarios. Since the beginning of the season, the Eagles have been beaten 14 times by teams who tried to run on fourth-and-1. The Lions have only been able to gain a first down 7 times. This is the second-lowest percentage in the NFL. The Lions learned this the hard way on Sunday night.
Six days later than the Packers.
Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter are too tough to run on. The Eagles have too much talent, are too intelligent (see Moro Ojomo calling out the Packers play), and too good. Darnell Washington holds the ball. It’s an important part of their success.
Darnell Washington’s “generously” listed 264 pounds is actually the opposite. Washington is 6’7″ tall and weighs more than 264lbs. When he gets it, the situation is like a “train approaching, get off of the tracks”.
My favorite highlights for Week 11. NFL players already make up 0.01% of all human beings in terms of physical stature. Darnell Washington belongs to the 0.01% NFL players. Five things we didn’t enjoy about Week 11The Atlanta FalconsMy co-worker Jordan Dajani has done a great job of analyzing the Falcons’ loss in Week 11, as well as the impact of Michael Penix Jr.’s possibly season-ending injury to his knee and Drake London’s knee injury.
The Falcons don’t own the first round pick for 2026. This pick belongs to the Rams. Atlanta sent this to Los Angeles in order to draft James Pearce Jr. The Rams are now expected to pick No. 8 after the Falcons’ fifth consecutive loss. You read that correctly. The Falcons traded what’s now almost certainly a top-10 pick, and maybe even better –it’s not like things will get better with Kirk Cousins — for a borderline first-round pass rusher.This isn’t bad management. It’s malpractice. The Falcons didn’t know they would be this bad but they should’ve known that it wasn’t just a rookie’s pass rusher from them being able to compete. Penix (and he still is, in essence) was a rookie and did not inspire confidence at the end of last year. The defense was not close to being among the best in the league. This was a total all-in for a team that wasn’t even close to being a contender, and a complete lack in self awareness.
But it may have been more than that. Both Terry Fontenot, the general manager, and Raheem Morris were under pressure to win. Desperation breeds bad, short-sighted decisions. The Chargers’ decision to pull Justin Herbert from the game against the Jaguars was the only positive thing that they did. The Chargers’ 35-6 loss to the Jaguars was brutal, as Herbert was smashed over and again. This pressure occurs in 2.42 seconds on average, which is the sixth fastest rate in the NFL. The quarterbacks who are ahead of him – Geno Smith and Davis Mills – play for the worst offensive teams in the NFL. They sat and watched their pass rush take over, while not allowing any quick throws. Herbert was out of luck.
There are 75 tackles that have played more than 200 snaps in this season. ProScout ranks the Chargers’ current line-up — consisting of Bobby Hart, Trey Pipkins, Austin Deculus and a mix — as 67th through 75th. Football Focus. Herbert can be Superman, but he still can’t get over these problems.
Bills run defense does not make for a championship-winning team. Josh Allen scored 6 touchdowns as the Bills beat Buccaneers, 44-32. This is a big win for the Bills who needed to rebound from their loss against the Dolphins. But this run defense was awful. Buccaneers gained 202 yards on the turf on an average of 5.1 yards per carry. They allow the seventh most yards per run before contact, and the eighth-most yards per run after contact. Sean Tucker scored both touchdowns with the left side completely erased.
Bills allowed more than 180 rushing yard five times already this season. Bills are 7-3, yet they still have a problem. It could be a big issue down the stretch, and even into the postseason.
Buccaneers become conservativeRemember that I said the Buccaneers could run the ball effortlessly? They should have at least tried it — or any offensive play — when they were down 37 to 32 halfway through the 4th quarter. Tampa Bay was facing a fourth-and-2 on its own 39. The team had conceded a touchdown in two consecutive drives. Todd Bowles decided to turn the game over again to his defense and face Josh Allen in his prime. Next, you can guess the outcome: an eight play, 85 yard drive that ended in yet another touchdown. Tampa Bay was never closerBowles has always been a conservative head coach who is defensively minded. He and other coaches must realize that punts do not work, especially in games where the opposing offense moves up and down the field. It’s too easy for SteelersListen to us, we know that the Bengals’ defense is bad. It’s almost amazing that the Bengals defense is this bad. Aaron Rodgers was replaced at halftime Sunday. Mason Rudolph was brought in as a backup. Cincinnati would have benefitted from this.
Wrong. Rudolph was 12 for 16 with 127 yards. He also scored a touchdown. He did not make a mistake or get sacked. Five of his completions were 10+ yards long and two were 20+ yards. It’s a bad thing. It gets worse. He averaged just 3.2 yards per throw. The majority of those yards came from dump offs – the type of offense a backup would use. It looks like the NFL’s most effective passing attack thanks to an entirely M.I.A. Bengals defense. I’ll describe three plays to you that should be fireable offenses for anyone involved with the Bengals defense:Third-and-17: Rudolph throws a checkdown 3 yards downfield. Rudolph throws an arcing pass to Darnell Washington 7 yards behind line of scrimmage on third-and-11. Kenneth Gainwell ran 27 yards for a first-down after the catch. Rudolph threw a screen eight yards behind the line-of-scrimmage. Gainwell runs 36 yard after the catch to get a first down. All three of these plays are basically “give-up” plays. The Steelers do not even attempt to gain first-downs. They’re the most explosive football team. Even worse on film.
Just awful
2025-11-18 12:51:32
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